Zoomorphic Mythics
Greywolf
and one of the ideas I had was to do one with a bunch of mythic-zoomorphs,
maybe one type for each month. Well, while trying to list all of the mythic
types that I could think of that would make nice zoomorphs, I ran into a couple
of problems...
* What is the plural of Phoenix? Phoenixes? Phoenixae?
* How about winged horses? Are they properly called Pegasae? Or since that
was the name of a single magical horse, is there some other "species name"
appropriate?
Minotaurs seem redundant (I wouldn't be altering them at all to change them
into zoomorphs), and Centaurs I'm not sure how to deal with (if I made them
traditional, they might not fit in ... maybe if I made them "equestaurs"...)
So far, the list I have includes:
Unicorns (of course!), dragons, gryphons, hippocampae (merhorses! =) ),
tygers (heraldic dragon-cats), wyverns, cockatrices/basilisks, chimerae (maybe
with a lion head/claws, goat legs/horns, dragon wings/tail), phoenix, pegasae,
kirin, sphinxes (winged cats?) ...
Well, if I could get 13-14 mythic species that would make nice zoomorphs, I'd
be a happy camper. =) I'm not exactly sure what to do with the kirin if I use
those. Anyway, can anybody think of any popular mythic critters that I've
overlooked? Hrm. Maybe Satyrs -- I'd just make 'em digitigrade goat morphs?
--
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Colby Hayward
>
>* What is the plural of Phoenix? Phoenixes? Phoenixae?
>
Got me. I'd guess Phoenixes, personally. :)
>* How about winged horses? Are they properly called Pegasae? Or since that
> was the name of a single magical horse, is there some other "species name"
> appropriate?
>
I've seen the term 'Pegasi' used, especially in FRP's.
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/ Mr. Yuujuufudan \
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Rene Boe Soerensen
>>>>> in article <1993Jun12.1...@iscsvax.uni.edu>
>>>>> "Greywolf" == Greywolf (peaco...@iscsvax.uni.edu) said:
[talk about calendar deleted]
Greywolf> Unicorns (of course!), dragons, gryphons, hippocampae
Greywolf> (merhorses! =) ), tygers (heraldic dragon-cats), wyverns,
Greywolf> cockatrices/basilisks, chimerae (maybe with a lion
Greywolf> head/claws, goat legs/horns, dragon wings/tail), phoenix,
Greywolf> pegasae, kirin, sphinxes (winged cats?) ...
^^^^^^^^
Isn't it a winged lion to be more precise?
Webster's definition: an enigmatic monster in ancient Greek
mythology having typically a lion's body, wings, and the
head and bust of a woman
Ok, I know that a lion is *just* a big cat but anyway ;-)
Greywolf> Well, if I could get 13-14 mythic species that would make
Greywolf> nice zoomorphs, I'd be a happy camper. =) I'm not exactly
Greywolf> sure what to do with the kirin if I use those. Anyway, can
Greywolf> anybody think of any popular mythic critters that I've
Greywolf> overlooked? Hrm. Maybe Satyrs -- I'd just make 'em
Greywolf> digitigrade goat morphs?
What about a faun. A creature with human upper body and a goats lower
body.
Rene Boe
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David E Wills
>Greywolf> pegasae, kirin, sphinxes (winged cats?) ...
>Webster's definition: an enigmatic monster in ancient Greek
> mythology having typically a lion's body, wings, and the
> head and bust of a woman
>Ok, I know that a lion is *just* a big cat but anyway ;-)
From AD&D (a FRPG) there are a number of Egyptain "-Sphinx" creatures:
Andro-: Winged lion with human-ish face (large canines), big, bad, and
mean looking. (Chaotic Good alignment)
Crio-: Ram-headed type. (Neutral)
Gyno-: The female human-head one. (Neutral)
Hieraco-: Hawk-headed. (Chaotic Evil)
Then there's a Shedu (Lawful Good) that is like the winged horse but with
a large demi-human head.
One similar to the Androsphinx is the Manticore. But they have large bat
wings and spikes on the end of their tail-- they can whip these at a
target for quite a bit of damage.
Oh, here's another, it's like a female Centaur but the main body is half
lion (front) and half goat (rear).
Greywolf
>>>>>> "Greywolf" == Greywolf (peaco...@iscsvax.uni.edu) said:
>
> [talk about calendar deleted]
>
> Greywolf> Unicorns (of course!), dragons, gryphons, hippocampae
> Greywolf> (merhorses! =) ), tygers (heraldic dragon-cats), wyverns,
> Greywolf> cockatrices/basilisks, chimerae (maybe with a lion
> Greywolf> head/claws, goat legs/horns, dragon wings/tail), phoenix,
> Greywolf> pegasae, kirin, sphinxes (winged cats?) ...
> ^^^^^^^^
> Isn't it a winged lion to be more precise?
Picky, ain't we?
> Ok, I know that a lion is *just* a big cat but anyway ;-)
=,
> Greywolf> Well, if I could get 13-14 mythic species that would make
> Greywolf> nice zoomorphs, I'd be a happy camper. =) I'm not exactly
> Greywolf> sure what to do with the kirin if I use those. Anyway, can
> Greywolf> anybody think of any popular mythic critters that I've
> Greywolf> overlooked? Hrm. Maybe Satyrs -- I'd just make 'em
> Greywolf> digitigrade goat morphs?
>
> What about a faun. A creature with human upper body and a goats lower
> body.
What's the difference between a Satyr and a Faun?
Greywolf
> re...@pink.iesd.auc.dk (Rene Boe Soerensen) writes:
>
>>Greywolf> pegasae, kirin, sphinxes (winged cats?) ...
>>Webster's definition: an enigmatic monster in ancient Greek
>> mythology having typically a lion's body, wings, and the
>> head and bust of a woman
>>Ok, I know that a lion is *just* a big cat but anyway ;-)
>
> From AD&D (a FRPG) there are a number of Egyptain "-Sphinx" creatures:
Well, I'd rather not use AD&D as my reference source. If I do, I'm likely to
end up with mythics that have no basis in any legends other than those provided
by the guys at TSR. After all, they're the sorts who provide such things as
Kobolds as lizard-dog-humanoid types, when I look up "Kobold" in an
"Encyclopaedia of Mythology" in the library and find that they're supposed to
be miner dwarves. (From their names, it says, we get the name "cobalt"...)
> One similar to the Androsphinx is the Manticore. But they have large bat
> wings and spikes on the end of their tail-- they can whip these at a
> target for quite a bit of damage.
Where does the Manticore come from? I don't *think* it's an AD&D creation, but
I wouldn't bet money either way.
Bill Marcum
them to make them into morphs.
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Peter da Silva
> From AD&D (a FRPG) there are a number of Egyptain "-Sphinx" creatures:
Garry Gygax (spit) is hardly an authority on mythology.
--
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Peter da Silva
> What's the difference between a Satyr and a Faun?
A Satyr is a Faun with an attitude, near as I can tell.
Richard Chandler
I think Satyrs may have the traditional horns and a tail, while fauns do not.
Or vice versa, depending on whose book you read.
Bacchus, the greek god of wine, is a Satyr. I think Fauns are depicted as
smaller, lighter creatures, and definitely less "Lusty". See C.S. Lewis'
Narnia chronicles.
(I run myself as a satyr on FurryMuck, without horns or a tail. I should
probably play with changing that, just for Faun. :-)
Hey, cut me some slack, I could have used the Satyrical pun....
Paul Chrysler
>Bacchus, the greek god of wine, is a Satyr. I think Fauns are depicted as
>smaller, lighter creatures, and definitely less "Lusty". See C.S. Lewis'
>Narnia chronicles.
Bacchus was the Roman god of wine, the counterpart to the Greek
Dionysius, and neither of them were fauns/satyrs. I think you may be
referring to Pan, the Greek god of, I believe music (or was that Apollo?).
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
?? Paul "Prof Peril" Chrysler ??
!! !!
?? pechr...@chemistry.watstar.uwaterloo.ca ??
!! !!
?? N=N iff N!=N ??
!! !!
?????????????????????????????????????????????????
Greywolf
> I think Satyrs may have the traditional horns and a tail, while fauns do not.
> Or vice versa, depending on whose book you read.
Yeah, that tends to happen a lot. That's the problem with myths. There's no
real fact behind it, so no way to figure out which source is the "authentic"
one. =P
BTW -- Are "Alicorns" an AD&D phenomenon? I think I heard that "alicorns" as
"winged unicorns" were introduced in some book series (Xanth?) some time ago,
even though the "proper" meaning of the word is for a unicorn's horn.
> (I run myself as a satyr on FurryMuck, without horns or a tail. I should
> probably play with changing that, just for Faun. :-)
{groooooaaaaaaaaannnnnn!} =)
> Hey, cut me some slack, I could have used the Satyrical pun....
{uggggghhhhhhh!} =)
Greywolf
> In article <1993Jun13.1...@iscsvax.uni.edu>
> peaco...@iscsvax.uni.edu (Greywolf) writes:
>
> nymphs, trying to rape some of them, and sometimes a passing deity would
> save the nymph by turning them into a tree or a clump of reeds. Satyrs
If you learn anything from Greek mythology, it's that you don't ever want
"help" from a god. Lessee .. there was this one story where Jupiter and
Mercury were disguised as travellers, and were refused hospitality by everyone
in a village except for an elderly couple, and to reward the couple, they
turned them into a couple of pillars, or somesuch. Yay.
> Apollo to a musical duel and lost (not entirely his own fault), so he
> was flayed alive on a tree and all his skin was removed, and he died.
Wow. Aren't Greek myths cheery? =,
Anyway, thanks for the info. =)
> "The first page of notes describes in delicate detail how the
> Australian goat-herders progressed from light fire tools to
> eventually throwing rocks in say, a period of after 70 years,
> or what we'll call 50 years, or maybe we should just call it
> Fred."
Curiouser and curiouser...
Richard Chandler
> Greek Dionysius, and neither of them were fauns/satyrs. I think you may
> be referring to Pan, the Greek god of, I believe music (or was that
> Apollo?).
So, I's ignerunt. :-)
Thanks to Thomas Turrittin for a very informative post.
Gotta buffer that one.
Mel. White
In dealing with group names for mythic creatures, you'd probably have a
very special term in addition to the plural. We've got a "pack of
wolves" and a "pride of lions" and (no kidding) a "skulk of foxes".
(Ah, I can hear the wheels turning over in Major Matt Mason's mind right
now...)
A Frolic of Fauns, maybe?
A Query of Sphynxes??
An Exultation of Pegasi (using the Greek form and stealing from the
larks)
(hmm... considering the problem of overhead horses and lack of toilet
training for them, perhaps it should be "OOOH! ICKKKKK!!!"
A Hover of Hippogryphs?
A Gaggle of Gryphons (or "gargle". Actually, we use "clan")
The possibilities are endless and silly.
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Paul Trauth
wrote:
[I'm gonna hate myself in the morning for this one...]
P> If you learn anything from Greek mythology, it's that you don't ever
P> want
P> "help" from a god. Lessee .. there was this one story where Jupiter
P> and
P> Mercury were disguised as travellers, and were refused hospitality by
P> everyone
P> in a village except for an elderly couple, and to reward the couple,
P> they
P> turned them into a couple of pillars, or somesuch. Yay.
Brings a new meaning to the phrase "pillars of the community", eh?
I think i shall run away now at the highest speed my legs can carry me.
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Damian Cugley
peaco...@iscsvax.uni.edu (Greywolf) writes:
> If you learn anything from Greek mythology, it's that you don't ever want
> "help" from a god. Lessee .. there was this one story where Jupiter and
> Mercury were disguised as travellers, and were refused hospitality by everyone
> in a village except for an elderly couple, and to reward the couple, they
> turned them into a couple of pillars, or somesuch. Yay.
The elderly couple were granted a boon in return for their
hospitality, and asked that they die within an hour of each other so
that they would never be parted. Zeus made them a grand temple to
attend for the remainder of their lives, and when their time came to
die they were transformed together into two intertwined trees... and
so continued to give shade and comfort to passing travellers.
The rest of the villagers were anihilated in a flood, of course.
The Greeks took the duty of hospitality seriously. :-)
Damian
Niall MacConaill
In a previous article, Paul_...@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US (Paul Trauth) says:
>[I'm gonna hate myself in the morning for this one...]
> P> turned them into a couple of pillars, or somesuch. Yay.
>Brings a new meaning to the phrase "pillars of the community", eh?
>I think i shall run away now at the highest speed my legs can carry me.
Not QUITE fast enough. Augh. One day we'll catch you... Any cheetahs
out there? *grin*
Serval
--
Niall MacConaill
ab...@freenet.carleton.ca
Greywolf
> Jordan Greywolf>>
> (hmm... considering the problem of overhead horses and lack of toilet
> training for them, perhaps it should be "OOOH! ICKKKKK!!!"
Reminds me of a "Watch out for those flying reindeer!" cartoon I did for the
NI *. =)
{* NI == Northern Iowan, local campus newspaper}
> The possibilities are endless and silly.
=)
Kay.S...@f524.n102.z1.fidonet.org
G>BTW -- Are "Alicorns" an AD&D phenomenon? I think I heard that
G>"alicorns" as "winged unicorns" were introduced in some book
G>series (Xanth?) some time ago, even though the "proper" meaning of
G>the word is for a unicorn's horn.
Nope - "alacorns" meaning "wing-horns" was derived from "alate unicorns"
by a friend of mine by the name of Charlie Luce who didn't particularly
care for "pegacorn", the most common alternate at the time. This back in
the days of original D&D before either AD&D or, I believe, Xanth. As it
filled a lack, the term was adopted by a lot of people, despite the
medieval term of the same sound but different derivation and slightly
different spelling.
Otherwise known as "a horse with all the options". :->
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--- msged 2.06
Peter da Silva
> Otherwise known as "a horse with all the options". :->
Wouldn't that be a winged titanide unicorn hippogryph?
--
Peter da Silva. <pe...@sugar.neosoft.com>.
`-_-' Hefur pu fadmad ulfinn i dag?
Kay.S...@f524.n102.z1.fidonet.org
> Otherwise known as "a horse with all the options". :->
Pd>Wouldn't that be a winged titanide unicorn hippogryph?
Nope - a hippogriff is half eagle, and thus not really that much of a
horse anymore. Be quite an entertaining chimera though. (The word
is used in the modern science definition of a creature made by parts of
different life forms.)
Kay.S...@f524.n102.z1.fidonet.org
> (hmm... considering the problem of overhead horses and lack of toilet
> training for them, perhaps it should be "OOOH! ICKKKKK!!!"
G>Reminds me of a "Watch out for those flying reindeer!" cartoon I
G>did for the NI *. =)
Or Tom Lehrer's Christmas Carol - "Don't stand underneath when they fly by!"
--- msged 2.06